The United States of Europe

European Union chiefs are drawing up plans for a single “Treasury” to oversee tax and spending across the 17 Euro zone nations. The proposal would be the clearest sign yet of a new ‘United States of Europe” — with Britain left on the sidelines.

Students of Bible Prophecy have long expected that Europe would revert to the huge Holy Roman Empire of old with one controlling power, known in Daniel as ‘the Beast’.

Daniel 7 depicts the 4th Beast, representative of Rome and its descendant modern Europe as coming into judgment of the “Ancient of Days”:

“I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousands of thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld at that time because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given to be burned with fire” (Daniel 7:9–11).

Just as the European Union is unlike any other coalition of Nations so the fourth beast is “different from all the beasts that were be­fore it” (v. 7) and “different from all other kingdoms” (v. 23) and this different kingdom is extant until “they shall take away his domin­ion, to consume and destroy it forever” (v. 26). This overthrow occurs when Christ is revealed in power:

v. 27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

The Book of Revelation in similar veindepicts the nations of Europe, as the beast which is ridden by the Harlot, believed to be the religious power of Catholic Europe. In the last phase of the Kingdom of Men, the independent nations of Europe surrender their sovereignty to the “beast” bringing about a direct conflict with the Lord Jesus Christ:

“And the ten horns that thou sawest are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet; but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, for one hour. These have one mind, and they give their power and authority unto the beast. These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they also shall overcome that are with him, called and chosen and faithful” (Revelation 17:12–14).

The Bible is clear. Europe will become a dictatorship with all its nations giving their power and strength to the beast, and Britain will get out in order to play the role the finger of God has identified for it, that of Tarshish opposing Gog and his army (Ezek 38)… it’s just a question of how, and when. And it seems that we are now privileged to see the first Act of the setting up of this great Beast, the European Union...

A Europe wide dictatorship

A Europe wide dictatorship has always been difficult to envisage for Bible students. How could it happen that all the nations agree to give up their sovereign power ? Now it is becoming clear that this will be done via the ‘back door’ for tax reasons.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph Herman Van Rompuy (European Union President ) said in September that he was ready to run for a second term, to lead a ‘United States of Europe.’ and Germany is pushing for a plan to create a Euro Zone Economic Government. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has said that the changes would “translate into a United States of Europe.”

John Laughland a British journalist, states in his book, "The Tainted Source. The undemocratic origins of the Europe idea.", that by creating a monetary union, each member state ‘would no longer have the right to govern themselves by taking decisions about the economy independently. Although a single currency might not formally create a new state therefore, it would create one in fact.’

He stated that “...it is the declared intention of Chancellor Kohl to use the single currency to make European Union 'irreversible'.” In other words a member state wouldn’t ever be able to leave the monetary union. As the President of the German Federal Bank has said, 'The path to monetary union is a path of no return."

John Laughland also wrote of "The third Rome". .stating that the restructuring of Europe ‘according to the plan's German authors, is to permit the creation of a common (Western) European foreign and security policy, which will in turn be based on a 'lasting partnership with Russia'. The German government has repeatedly stressed that it is 'the advocate of pan-European, not just West European, thinking'. He also wrote that, "The idea is then to construct a pan-European security architecture with Russia", and that monetary union in the West was a "necessary prerequisite for the larger vision of a one single politico-military system for the whole continent."

So we have the prospect of a huge and formidable European Union stretching from the shores of the North Sea to Kamchatka in the Far East of Russia. And this prospect is foreseen in the Bible!

Foreseen in the Bible

Here is an extract from the Testimony magazine Nov 2002

“ In Revelation 17 a great beast is described: “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns” (v. 3). The woman represents a “great city” (v. 18), and the seven heads represent “seven mountains” (v. 9) on which the city lies. At the time John wrote, this city was reigning “over the kings of the earth” (v. 18). The city represented by the woman was Rome, and the beast represents the European nations over which it ruled.

This beast will be in existence at the time of Christ establishing the Kingdom. Its nations will make war with Christ: ’And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful ‘(vv. 12-14).”

We therefore look for a great European power to develop at the time of the end and that power could only be the EU with its 27 member states and a population of about 501.26 million people.

Europe was originally united in the long defunct Holy Roman Empire. As the EU develops in size and power it is increasingly paralleling this former empire. This latter-day development is symbolised by the beast in Revelation 17. The Lord Jesus to whom all power is given in heaven and in Earth (Mt 28:18) has prophesied that the end of this huge, dominant Empire will be as is described in Daniel 2 when the Image which Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of is destroyed at his return by Jesus ‘the stone cut out of the mountain without hands’. Then Jesus will reign over the whole earth. There will be no more corrupt governments, no oppression merely peace. Ultimately it will be a world filled with the Glory of God.

Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

We are privileged to see these events coming closer day by day and so we must leave the last words with the Lord Jesus